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“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.” – Luke 11:33

I have a lamp on my desk at home. It isn’t a big lamp. Turn it off, and you can still see around the room when the overhead light is on. Most of the time it seems like such a small thing. Until bedtime. All the lights are off. I have climbed into bed. I reach to turn the light off by the bedside, but the house is still bright. Every other light is off, but I have forgotten to turn off the lamp on my desk. That little light that doesn’t seem to make much difference shines like the sun in the darkness. It calls for me to leave my comfortable spot, and tread the cold floors to take action. Embedding the Bible seems like such a little thing. A few short verses. A small event. But as it permeates the mind and shapes the heart, it calls for a response. It calls for movement. It calls for transformation.

A lawyer stands up and asks a question. His intent is to test Jesus. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asks a question of His own. “What does the Law say?” Without hesitation the lawyer quotes Deuteronomy 6:5. He knows his Scripture. He has studied it since he was a boy. He has embedded the words of God through Moses in his mind. Jesus responds by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. Two men, men who claim relationship with God, men who know the Scriptures, men who are meant to live out the character of God before the Jewish people pass by a man, stranded and in need. Who will stop to help? Only a Samaritan; a foreigner and an outcast. Who is the neighbor? Who lives out the Word of God? Embedding the Bible goes deeper than the mind. Embedding the Bible is a matter of the heart.

I can’t help but smile when I read Luke 6:46-49. As Jesus talks about wise and foolish builders, sudden storms, rocks and sand, I see little faces and little hands. We sing the words, performing the motions enthusiastically, and with every verse or each SPLAT of the destroyed house we embed the Bible in a heart. No matter where you go, there is a child who can sing this song. The words are buried deep in the hearts of those who are familiar with it. That is a great picture of what embedding the Bible is all about. It is about building a solid foundation in our hearts that guides the way we live and the way we think. Embedding the Bible gives us the words of Jesus to meditate on and think over. They shape how we treat others, what we understand about truth, and how we see the world. This week as you read the story of Jesus remember that He is building something solid in your life.

In Luke 4, Jesus is preparing for His public ministry. Before starting, Jesus walks with the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where Satan is waiting to tempt Jesus. Satan is not easy on Jesus. The temptations are hard. Food for a hungry belly, the world at His feet, the company of angels instead of the press of the people. All Jesus has to do is walk away from God’s will. Rely on Himself, worship the Devil, and test the love of God. Each time Jesus answers with the Word of God. Jesus knows that His time on earth will be hard. People will flock to Him for the wrong reasons, reject His call, and hang Him on a cross. But Jesus also knows that some will respond. That people will be saved. That for generations to come, man will be able to turn to God and find forgiveness, mercy, and grace. The Word of God still calls to man. It still stands strong in the face of temptation. It still leads us into the will of God. Embed the Bible this week, and see the power of God at work in your life.

The cross looms large in the thoughts of Jesus. The time has come. The next few hours, the next few days, will be full of rejection, pain, and death. Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He seeks the comfort that only God can provide. He draws strength from being in the presence of His Father in prayer. Jesus prays that the will of God will take center stage. As the crowds approach and the disciples flee, Jesus boldly steps up to make a sacrifice. A sacrifice to restore those far away. A sacrifice to offer forgiveness to those in rebellion. A sacrifice that forges a path for man to walk with God. The cross stands in His future, and He goes willingly… for you and me. The cross still stands. It still calls. Each day we make a decision to follow way of the cross. Each day we decide to live a life of sacrifice. Each day the cross forgives, restores, and shapes our lives. Embedding the Bible means listening to the call to sacrifice self and live with Jesus.

“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” (Mark 11:17) The words sometimes stun us. The picture is sometimes hard to imagine. Jesus is overturning tables, causing chaos in the Temple. The One who calls men to worship is driving people from the place of worship. His anger is apparent, His message is clear. There is no room for the world in the hearts of those who follow God. This story compels us to take a hard look at our lives, and let Jesus clean out the junk that gets in the way of worship and prayer. Habits, attitudes, relationships, it doesn’t matter. If it stands in the way of Jesus, let Him drive it from your life. Sometimes it is difficult. Sometimes it hurts. But Jesus is insistent, “…you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) Embedding Jesus in your life means clearing out the junk, and letting Jesus fill your heart.

His name is Bartimaeus, and he is blind. He sits by the road, and begs. The mercy of others is his only hope. In Mark 10:46-52, we encounter his story. Listening as the crowds pass by on the road, Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is coming. He lifts his voice, crying out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He knows that Jesus can make a difference in his life. Some try to quiet him. The people surrounding him discourage him from seeking Jesus, but Bartimaeus is insistent. He asks to regain his sight, and Jesus heals the blind man. The healing itself is powerful, but I love verse 52. Jesus tells Bartimaeus to go his way, and the Bible says that Batimaeus followed Jesus on the way. Bartimaeus has seen Jesus, and now the way of Jesus is the way of Bartimaeus. Jesus defines his life and his direction. Bartimaeus knows that Jesus can provide all he needs. And that Jesus is willing. This week, as you embed Jesus in your heart, know that your sight will be changed. Your direction will be set. Your heart will long to follow. Just like Bartimaeus.